AU Magazine - Feb 2018 E Magazine
AU Magazine - Feb 2018 E Magazine
AU Magazine - Feb 2018 E Magazine
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AVIATION INTERVIEW<br />
Aircraft very soon. We are currently operating to thirteen<br />
destination including Mumbai in a Hub and Spoke model<br />
from Hyderabad. With the new Aircraft joining the fleet, we<br />
will operate to eighteen destinations in south and western<br />
India in this year…Recently a brand new ATR 72-600 had<br />
joined our fleet thus taking our fleet size to five.<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: I understand you are close to hitting one million mark<br />
in a market which has seen a number of regional carriers<br />
collapse. Can you explain how this was possible?<br />
We could achieve this milestone with the dedicated efforts<br />
of all 500+ employees in the organization..We all stood firm<br />
in our mission to provide connectivity to the hinterland of<br />
the country with most affordable fare and best customer<br />
service possible which made us realise this dream..<br />
We have meticulously<br />
studied the needs of the<br />
customer and hence market<br />
demand for a considerable<br />
period of time before<br />
inducting the services.<br />
Kartikeya, Editor, Aviation Update Interacted with Mr.Senthil<br />
Raja Head of commercial for Trujet Airline regarding UDAN<br />
initiative Mr.Senthil Raja is an engineering graduate from Anna<br />
University. He has got over a decade experience in Aviation<br />
in commercial aspects of airline including Network Planning,<br />
Revenue Management, Sales and Marketing and Customer<br />
Service. He is now head of commercial for Trujet Airline based<br />
out of Hyderabad<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: How has been the progress for the airline over the<br />
past two plus years and in the UDAN initiative of the<br />
Government?<br />
We have commenced our operation in July 2015 and took<br />
several strides to connect to the hinterland of the country<br />
whilst having a keen eye on price and customer service.<br />
We have progressed in terms of expanding our services<br />
to underserved market like Nanded, Cuddapah and Vidya<br />
Nagar by participating in the UDAN scheme. Since the start<br />
of the operation, we have progressively improved upon the<br />
passenger yield and hence RASK.<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: What are your plans going forward when it comes to<br />
fleet expansion and connecting more cities?<br />
We are currently operating with three ATR72-500 and one<br />
ATR72-600 and are in the process inducting four more<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: Does the Udan scheme work out financially for airliners?<br />
UDAN scheme has monopolised the routes for the airlines<br />
for the period of three years. This gives an extended lead<br />
time to realise the investment and efforts the airline has<br />
made on the Sales & Marketing and other operational<br />
activity thus financially favouring the airlines.<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: The Government is seeking to tweak norms in Udan II, what<br />
are your views. How do you see yourself in this round?<br />
Several new entrants have participated in the second round<br />
of the scheme which is very welcome for the growth of<br />
the untapped Indian Aviation Market. We have won bid to<br />
operate 20 routes with full VGF support in UDAN II..<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: How many city pairs do you plan to add from the 13<br />
now? What about pilots and aircraft growth?<br />
We are planning to add five more city pair in this year. Our<br />
Pilot induction programme is very comprehensive and will<br />
augment the pilot strength to cater to the increase in fleet<br />
size.<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: In a market which has seen a number of regional carriers<br />
collapsing, how did Trujet manage to stay afloat? Kindly<br />
explain in the industry context where many have failed<br />
starting from Modiluft/Damania in 1999, Deccan in<br />
2003 and now other carriers?<br />
We have meticulously studied the needs of the customer<br />
and hence market demand for a considerable period of time<br />
before inducting the services. Our Aircraft type, category of<br />
routes, kind of service etc. are all tuned to match this need<br />
and demand...<br />
<strong>AU</strong> - Q: Anything else you would like to comment on the<br />
aviation sector potential and growth in the country.<br />
Despite a raft of policy facilitations, domestic airlines are<br />
flying into two major headwinds – crippling infrastructure<br />
constraints at major airports, and an uptick in fuel prices<br />
hampering the growth of the sector to a larger extent. With<br />
the UDAN scheme, airlines are given an opportunity to<br />
explore alternate means but there is a huge challenge to<br />
cater to the increasing demand that exist in this sector..<br />
AVIATION UPDATE<br />
<strong>2018</strong> FEBRUARY<br />
17